Senator Nita Green and incoming Leichhardt MP Matt Smith, pictured with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, were joined at the hip during the federal election campaign, with editor Lyndon Keane hopeful the collaboration continues for the betterment of Cape York and the Torres Strait.
Before you read any further, here is your official warning to brace yourself, because I’m about to say something positive about politicians.
It will come as quite the shock to anyone who has previously read one of my searing, politically-themed rants, but I’m turning the other cheek to a lifetime of venom aimed at our elected representatives, and am instead prepared to offer the benefit of the doubt that those collecting substantial paycheques in Canberra to act in our best interests actually have them at heart.
Perhaps I’m getting sentimental in my old age. Perhaps it’s the remnants of a hopeless romantic deep inside me fighting to surface. There’s a possibility this newfound optimism is the result of banging my head on that low-hanging branch on my trip down the Peninsula Developmental Road last week. Whatever the cause, I’m excited to see what the election of Matt Smith as the new Leichhardt MP, having a local member as part of the ruling party, and the promotion of Nita Green to some key assistant ministries mean for our often neglected patch of the country.
To get in front of the eight ball and stave off commentary and hate mail branding this as a Labor puff piece, I’ll mention right here that I’ve intentionally remained fiercely apolitical my entire journalism career. It makes it so much easier to tee off and spit bile at our elected leaders for ignoring us.
I’ve written some positive things about politicians over the years, but I’ve also been scathingly critical of all parties, irrespective of their colour or creed, and how they represent remote parts of Australia like Cape York and the Torres Strait in what I still believe is a hopelessly flawed political landscape. I’m looking at you, two-party preferred system, and sycophants from both sides of the fence who find themselves with “MP” postnominals without ever having had experienced the trials and tribulations of the real world.
One of the things that fills me with the most hope about our new 211-centimetre Member for Leichhardt is that he wasted no time in connecting with his predecessor, long-time defender of our region Warren Entsch, to ensure local political knowledge about Cape York issues wasn’t lost during the transfer of power.
When was the last time you heard a politician readily admit they broke bread with the enemy to seek their opinion and decades of experience, let alone acknowledge it to the media? There should be more of it, because only an idiot would pretend someone who did your job for nearly three decades before you got tapped on the shoulder didn’t have anything to offer in terms of wisdom and friendly warnings.
Kudos to both men for seeing beyond party lines for the betterment of the Leichhardt electorate, and congratulations to our new federal MP for having the refreshing confidence to admit you don’t know it all as you make the role your own.
We are still $240 million light on with regard to progressing stage three of the Cape York Region Package, something I’ve made abundantly clear to the former Taipan-turned-politician his northernmost constituents expect to be addressed – and funded – as a priority. Senator Nita Green’s elevation to assistant minister in the Northern Australia and Tourism portfolios can only aid our fight for the federal dollar, especially if she can exploit her new cabinet roles to shamelessly promote the criticality of developing the social, economic and infrastructure status quo on Cape York and in the Torres Strait.
I may be optimistic, but I’m not completely delusional. There is a chance the majority government Prime Minister Anthony Albanese finds himself commanding after the 3 May strip out of the Coalition and Greens means he will do what he wants for another term and just completely ignore remote Australia, but I hope this does not somehow become a Cape-crippling premonition.
With the pieces aligning as they are on the political chess board, the only question we can ask is if now is not Cape York’s time to prosper, when will be?
